Final Fantasy: World Divided
by Anthony Tinajero
Summary: Follow the journey through two worlds, as three adventurers, Anthony, Stephanie, and Romero, fight to save mankind from itself... First two chapters set up!
1. A New World

Old World Part 1 - Chapter 1: New Sun

Rain poured from the sky. The car slowed to a stop in front of a huge warehouse. Lightning flashed as the five men stepped out of the car. Thunder rolled through the sky. The trunk popped open, revealing the weapons stored inside. Each man chose their weapon and prepared for the battle to come.

"Anthony, you ready yet?" One of them asked.

"Yeah, I'm good now." Anthony replied after loading a clip into his machine gun.

"Alright, you all know the plan," one of them called out, "we go in sweep the area, get what we came for then we're out. We're IPF soldiers, but this isn't a sanctioned mission. All of us are on the line. If it gets out of control, the world border is only 30 miles east of this place. No need to worry about a world pass because if you're caught, you're on your own. Now enough of this crap. Let's get going."

Everyone gathered near the main door, weapons at the ready.

"You ready for this Daniel?" Anthony asked.

"Not really," He said laughing, "I'd rather take my chances at the world gate." Daniel replied.

"I know how you feel."

The reinforced warehouse doors suddenly slid open.

"Got it," Said the security specialist.

They all stormed into the warehouse.

* * *

"Shit! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE" Anthony yelled.

"GET OUT OF HERE ANTHONY!" Daniel yelled back, firing his gun.

"Lets go! The world border isn't too far away!"

"What about everyone else?"

"The whole squad is gone. What the fuck were those things?"

"I don't wanna know."

The two men ran as fast as they could towards the front door. Loud screeches were coming from behind them. Screams of men pierced the air. Sounds of flesh being torn apart could be heard in the distance.

"Fuck, the door is closing!" Daniel yelled.

"Damn it!" Anthony replied.

Daniel ran through the door. He spun and gave Anthony some cover fire as he dove through it. The warehouse door slammed shut. Scratching and more screeching came from behind the door. The windows shattered above them. Dark beings could be seen shooting out from them.

"Fuck, here they come." Anthony said, looking up at the creatures.

"This way!" Daniel said as he grabbed Anthony's arm and started running.

Both of the men ran as fast as they could. The border soon came into view. The huge wall was miles away but could be seen as if it was day. Suddenly, the men felt the ground start shaking as if a giant was running on it.

"There can't be that many...there's no way.." Daniel said.

"Split up, you go north I'll go south. Anthony suggested.

"Alright, but how will we get into contact with each other again?"

"I only know of one place in Old World, Kirasagi. We can meet up there."

"Fine, I hope to see you again old friend."

"You will, we won't be dying tonight."

The men split into different directions. Anthony ran as fast as he could, still hearing the creatures behind him. Soon, it became silent. Anthony stopped running. He readied the rifle he picked up during the battle back in the warehouse. The wall was about a mile away from him. Breathing heavily, he walked towards the border. After a few feet, the sound of snapping branches came from behind him.

"Who's there?" Anthony shouted as he spun around.

A low snarl replied.

Anthony unloaded two rounds into the space in front of him. A dark creature jumped out from the cold darkness. It quickly got around Anthony and leaped at him. Anthony grabbed his knife off his leg and jabbed the creature as it took him down. He drove his forearm into the creature's neck and held it back. It started snapping at him, the feeling of pure evil coming from its eyes. Anthony pulled out the knife and slit the creature's throat as it tried to bite him. Blood spewed forth as it gave out a loud screech and fell over dead. Anthony quickly got to his feet, picked up his rifle, and started running towards the wall. Screeches started coming from all around him as he saw them slowly close in on him. He changed the rifle's clip. The empty clang echoed around him as it hit the ground. One of the creatures jumped at him, slashing across his chest with one of its ragged claws. Anthony fell to his knees in pain. Blood gushed from the wound as he fought to stand again. Another creature dashed at him. Anthony sidestepped and shot at it. Rounds flew into their target as the creature fell dead. The rest of the creatures let out lurid screams. They all charged at Anthony.

* * *

Anthony shot up, both awake and alert. His entire body was in intense pain. He fell back down, nearly losing consciousness. He looked at his surroundings. The room had wood walls and a thatched roof. He knew where he was immediately. He was in Old World. The pain overtook him again. He started to feel tired. He passed out.

_Old World was created soon after the Moon Gate explosion. The Moon Gate was the first form of inter-space travel. It allowed hyper-speed travel between Earth and the colonies in space. After years of use, it suddenly collapsed and destroyed everything it was connected too. The colonies that had been built on the moon had been decimated, but the nuclear reactors used to power the Moon Gate and the colonies became unstable and exploded, in turn causing the moon itself to explode. Many particles from the moon that came into the Earth's atmosphere were unaffected by the immense heat from entry. They crashed into Earth, destroying everything on the surface. The human race was nearly brought to extinction, but 40 people had survived._

_These 40 survivors split in half. The first half called themselves the Futurists and they believed in rebuilding the world back to how it was before. To make it greater than ever before. The other half that called themselves the Purists believed that this would only cause the same mistake that nearly ended the world. The planet was broken into two sections, New World that was controlled by the Futurists, and Old World controlled by the Purists. _

_The Purists had found books that were still intact in their land. These books told of Japan's Feudal Age, and the people believed this was the proper way of living. They slowly rebuilt the land into how it had been thousands of years ago. They dressed and behaved as people did in feudal Japan. _

_The Futurists had nothing but barren and unlivable land. They started to salvage the technology and repair it. Soon, they created a new civilization and had built new technologies and many new tools. They disregarded the Old World completely and shut off all connections to them. They built the World Border between New and Old World. _

_Old World outlawed all New World technologies and executed anyone who was caught using them or having possession of New World weaponry. The people of Old World had created weapons from feudal Japan. Katana swords and many other bladed weaponry began to get mass-produced. 20 years after the construction of the World Border, people started becoming able to channel their energies into a new form of weaponry, Magic. Only chosen people could become able to use magic themselves. Yet, those who couldn't honed their skills with blades and other weapons. They soon became the most skilled and feared soldiers on the planet. Their abilities extended to the point of being able to deflect bullets. _

_With magic and these soldiers, Old World became the greater of the two worlds. Tension has been increasing between the two worlds, although neither is willing to compromise, they do not want to resort to war._

Anthony slowly opened his eyes. It was nighttime and raining outside. He looked at his body. His was wrapped up tight in bandages. He then looked around the room again. There was a set of folded clothes lying on the floor near his bed. He slowly stood and picked them up. They were traditional Japanese dressings. His old clothes were nowhere to be found. He put them on and found them to be the perfect size.

Anthony walked out onto the porch area as the rain stopped. The sky had cleared. Sunlight covered everything. He looked up to the sky. Clouds danced through the blue. The sun showing through them. He felt warm and at home.

"I have to get to Kirasagi," he said to himself.

"What was that?" Asked a girl's voice from behind him.

Anthony spun around quickly, igniting the pain that had been assuaged by his resting. He fell to his knees. The girl ran to him and held him up. He looked up and laid his eyes on her. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had brown, shoulder-length hair along with hazel eyes. She gave him a smile as she helped him back up and laid him back in the bed. She slid her hand over the bandages on his body, watching him wince in pain. She pulled her hand back and looked into his eyes.

"You shouldn't be out of bed yet. You're still badly wounded." She told him.

Anthony gave a small laugh, "I've been through worst"

"You're lucky I found you there in the desert, and that I risked my life to get you over to our side. I could be killed if the magistrate find out you're from New World."

"Don't worry, I can keep a secret."

She smiled warmly at Anthony, "Good. I have some rice made if you would like some."

"I would really appreciate that, thank you."

She brought in the warm rice after a few minutes. Anthony took the bowl and quickly ate all of it. She laughed and got him another bowl.

"Wow, this is really good." Anthony said in-between a mouthful of rice.

Anthony fumbled around with the chopsticks in his hand, confused on how to use them properly. The girl smiled at him and took his hand with the chopsticks.

"This is how you hold them." She said after she arranged them in his hand.

Anthony smiled at her and started eating again. She sat next to him on the bed watching him eat bowl after bowl of rice.

"You sure can eat a lot, can't you?" She asked.

Anthony smiled again, "Yeah, I've never had food this good before."

"You don't have rice in New World?"

"Well, yeah, but between you and me, it sucks."

The girl laughed, "What's it like in New World?"

"Nothing special really. We got automobiles, tall skyscrapers, and super fast travel between cities. Just as before the Moon Gate incident."

"Oh, I see. I always wanted to see New World."

"If you like, I'll take you there one day."

"Really? I'd love that!" She gave Anthony a big smile.

"What's your name?"

"Stephanie."

"That's a nice name." Anthony smiled at Stephanie.

"What's yours?"

"I'm Anthony."

"It's nice to meet you Anthony."

"It's nice to meet you too Stephanie." He smiled at her again.

"Why do you need to go to Kirasagi?"

"I...have business there."

"Oh, I see. Well, when you heal fully, you can go. Til' then you're not to leave this bed."

"There's one problem with that though."

"Hmmm?"

"I don't know how to get there."

"I can take you. I used to live there when I was little."

Anthony smiled at Stephanie again, "I really do owe you a lot."

"It's no problem at all."

Stephanie picked up the bowls and left the room. Anthony laid back as his stomach growled. He smiled and let himself drift off and sleep.


	2. The Journey Begins

Old World Part 1-Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

Days soon turned to weeks, which in turn turned to months. Anthony's wounds had fully healed. He packed up the things he accumulated while living in Stephanie's house. She was happy to finally get out and go somewhere else in the world. After checking to see if everything was all right in the house and after getting all the money she had saved up, Stephanie came out onto the porch carrying bags full of clothes and other supplies.

"We really won't need all that. It would only slow us down." Anthony said after he saw her.

"Hmmm, maybe you're right." She replied after looking the many bags in her hands.

Stephanie went back into the house and returned with nothing. She walked down the stairs and started through the town. Anthony followed behind her, watching all his surroundings. People working at shops, selling various wares and services. Vendors shouting about how their goods are superior to their competitors. Stephanie and Anthony saw a sushi stand and decided to stop there. The old man that was there running the stand was kind to them.

"What'll you have?" The old man asked.

Stephanie thought about it for a second then ordered for her and Anthony. The old man smiled as she laid the money on the counter. He turned and started slicing up fish and pulling out his rice and wraps. He soon turned back around and put the order in front of them.

"Thanks a lot." The old man said.

The old man smiled at Stephanie and bowed to Anthony. Anthony, though confused, bowed back.

"So, what's this place called anyway?" Anthony asked while eating some sushi that they bought.

"Nagatomi, it's about four towns from Kirasagi." Stephanie replied with an informative tone.

"Oh, ok. How long will it take to get to Kirasagi?"

"Hmmm, around eleven days."

"Wow, I was thinking around two but alright."

Stephanie laughed, "We're headed to Minoki now."

"Is that a big city?"

"Not really, just a village. We can rest for the night there at least."

"So, we should be there by nightfall, right?"

"Yeah, It's not too far away."

Once they got out of town, Anthony and Stephanie started down the road to Minoki. Anthony started picking up rocks and skipped them down the road. Stephanie looked at him and laughed. He smiled back at her. Many people walked past them, looking busy, some talking to themselves. Up ahead, someone started shouting.

"Please help me!" A girl yelled out.

Anthony ran past Stephanie to the woman that was screaming. Six men had surrounded her.

"Come on baby, I just wanna talk." Said one man while the others laughed.

The man grabbed at her robe. She quickly turned away and slapped his hand. He drew his katana and grabbed her robe again.

"Now you gone and pissed me off. I'll show you what happens when you don't cooperate." He said.

"I suggest you back away from that woman." Said a voice from the background.

Another man walked up. He was dressed in a white robe and had a bandana around his forehead. Two spikes of hair came from behind it and reached down to his cheeks. He had a white-handled katana at his side. His hand steadily hovered over it.

"You wouldn't want any trouble." Said the white robed man.

"Oh yeah? Who the hell are you?" Replied the other man.

"I'm a swordsman from Nerokawa. Now leave that woman be or you will pay with your lives."

"Ha, a two-bit samurai, huh? Let show him a thing or two boys."

The other men laughed and drew their swords. The white-robed man stood there, his hand over his sword as they surrounded him. Anthony bent down and grabbed a rock. Stephanie looked at him and grabbed his arm.

"Don't interfere. Let him handle it." She said with a worried tone.

"This isn't right. I have to help him." Anthony replied.

"Don't try to be a hero Anthony."

"I'll give you one last chance to keep your lives." The white robed samurai said to the men.

"Heh, Screw you. This girl here is mine." The thief replied.

The samurai drew his sword and slashed through the thief's wrist, as fast as lighting. The thief stood there as the woman stepped back, his hand still clenching onto her robe. The thief screamed out in pain as blood sprayed from the nub where his hand once was.

"Kill him! Don't just stand there you cowards!" The thief called out, while trying to stop the bleeding.

The other men hesitantly charged at the white-robed samurai. He quickly dodged two attacks and returned with four of his own. Two of his slashes met the arms of his two attackers. The other two were dodged. Anthony stood back, waiting for a clear shot. One of the thieves charged at the samurai, leaving the gap Anthony was looking for. He launched the rock as hard as he could at the man's head. The rock slammed into his temple, causing him to fall to his knees. Anthony ran up to him as fast as he could and unleashed a powerful kick into the side of his head, knocking him out. Anthony grabbed the man's sword and ran next to the samurai.

"Looks like you could use a hand." Anthony said.

"I can handle these callow thieves myself." The samurai replied.

One of the other men slashed at Anthony. He dove forward and slashed the man's kneecaps. The man fell to the ground screaming in pain. Anthony quickly stood and ran at another man. He slashed powerfully at him, but the man turned in time to block his attack. The thief returned with his own attack but Anthony sidestepped out of the way. Anthony then countered with a slice to the side of the thief. The thief fell to his knees as blood spewed from the open wound.

The last thief attacked the samurai. He quickly ducked and slashed at the thief's legs. The thief blocked the strike and returned with a slash to the samurai's body. The samurai jumped back as the sword swung by him. He then sprinted toward the thief and slashed at him three times. The thief blocked the first two but took one strike to his stomach. The thief fell just as the samurai stopped running and sheathed his katana.

The samurai walked up to the woman. She sat there staring at the hand gripping onto her robe. He drew a small katana from underneath his other sword and slashed the fingers off the hand. She woman screamed as the hand fell to the ground. He smiled at her and offered her his hand.

"Let me help you up, Miss." He said kindly.

"Thank you so much, samurai." She replied as she took his hand.

The samurai pulled her up to her feet and brushed off the dirt on her outfit. She smiled at him and gave him a hug. Whistles could be heard in the distance. She looked at him.

"Don't worry about the police, I'll tell them what happened." She said.

"I thank you, Miss." He replied.

She then looked over to Anthony as he started to eat some sushi. Stephanie laughed at him as the woman walked up to him.

"Thank you so much, Hero." The woman said to Anthony

"Hero?" He asked.

"Well I do not know of your name, but you were my hero today, so that will be your title to me."

"Thank you." Anthony said smiling.

"No, I thank you." The woman bowed.

Anthony stood for a few seconds, and then he remembered to bow. He bowed twice laughing and apologizing. After the police let him and Stephanie go, he looked over to the last policeman there and saw the white robed samurai. He looked over to Anthony as the policeman asked him a few more questions. Once the officer left, the samurai walked over to Anthony.

"You are a skilled warrior, yet you haven't ever used a sword have you?" He asked.

"No, I haven't." Anthony replied.

"Hmmm," said the samurai as though he were lost in thought, " you are headed to Minoki, are you not?"

"We are."

"We?"

"Yes, me and her." Anthony motioned to Stephanie.

"I see. I shall accompany you there then, if you allow me."

"Sure, I don't see nothing wrong with that."

"I thank you."

"What is your?" name?"

"Romero, and yours

"Anthony, this is Stephanie."

"It's a pleasure to meet you two." Romero bowed.

"Same here." Said Stephanie, returning the bow.

"Oh, yes, nice to meet you too." Anthony said while bowing.

The three of them walked for a few hours. After awhile, Anthony started messing around with Stephanie. Every so often she would laugh and try to hit him. Romero walked on silently, watching the other two and the people around them. His hand never left his sword's hilt. They traveled until dusk. The city of Minoki soon came into view. It was a mid-sized village. The lights shining though the darkening land. People could been seen coming in and out of the village, some with bags or boxes. Others with horse drawn carriages filled with both boxes and bags.

As soon as they reached the town, they headed directly to the inn to rest. Anthony and Stephanie got a room as Romero ordered his own. They both watched him walk away from the innkeeper and go straight into his room.

"He's a little different, don't you think?" Stephanie asked.

"Yeah, there's something about him. I wonder why he wanted to come with us." Anthony replied.

"Well then," Stephanie grinned, "go find out."

Stephanie pushed Anthony to Romero's door. She giggled as he looked back at her. He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Asked Romero

"It's Anthony, I want to ask you something. May I come in?" Anthony replied.

"If you must." Romero opened the door and let Anthony in.

"I wanted to know why you chose to come with us."

Romero stared into Anthony's eyes, searching for impurity. He then started to talk again.

"I had a dream the other day." He said.

"What was it about?" Anthony asked.

"There was a tiger, without claws or teeth. Many hunters attacked it, yet the tiger easily killed every one of them. During our battle today, I saw that same tiger within you."

"I see. What do you plan to do then?"

"I will follow you to see if there is some purpose to this."

Anthony stood and bowed. He then headed to the door. "You're welcome to stay with us as long as you want, Romero."

"Thank you." Romero said after bowing back.

Anthony walked out of the room. He stood in the lobby for awhile then walked outside. People walked by, busy with their errands before all the shops closed. Anthony watched them as a memory flashed through his mind.

_ I can see it in your eyes, Anthony. You've got the eyes of a tiger. A wild beast. Us beasts got to stick together. _

_ I have to see if Daniel survived_, Anthony thought. He heard footsteps behind him. He quick spun around, ready to attack, until he saw Stephanie. The lights from the street reflected off her beautiful skin, making her look as if she were an angel. She smiled at him.

"You're too tense." She said.

"You keep sneaking up on me, making me tense." Anthony replied, laughing.

Stephanie smiled at him softly. "I know you must be tired."

"Yeah, I'll sleep in a little bit."

"Don't be up too late, we have to leave early tomorrow."

"Alright."

She smiled at Anthony as she turned and went back to the room. Anthony turned back to the street and saw a man standing there, staring at Stephanie. Anthony gave him a hard look. The man looked at Anthony and turned away. He then walked off. Anthony went to a sushi stand across the street and ordered. He turned and watched the guy disappear among all the people in the street. He heard something come from his side. He turned and looked at the shopkeeper and laughed.

"I'm sorry. Here you go." Anthony said, paying the money he owed.

Anthony ate the sushi at the stand then waved goodbye to the clerk. He then crossed the street and went back into the inn. Anthony waved at the clerk at the counter and went inside the room. Stephanie was already asleep. He smiled and got into his bed. He soon felt tired and drifted off into sleep.


End file.
